200 Google workers fired amid fight over working conditions
The affected workers were employed through GlobalLogic, a Hitachi-owned outsourcing firm, and its subcontractors.
Google has laid off more than 200 contract positions tied to its artificial intelligence (AI) projects, a move that has reignited debate about the hidden workforce behind today’s most advanced technologies.
The affected workers were employed through GlobalLogic, a Hitachi-owned outsourcing firm, and its subcontractors.
More To Read
- Did AI save Google from being broken apart by regulators?
- Google’s Gemini AI goes multimodal with audio uploads
- European Commission fines Google in ad-tech antitrust case
- Google must share search data with competitors, judge rules
- Google’s 'Nano Banana' breaks ground in AI creativity
- Editors, reporters challenged to adopt AI but maintain human oversight
Many were “raters”, workers tasked with reviewing AI outputs to ensure accuracy, fairness, and safety. Their feedback fed directly into Google’s flagship systems, including the Gemini model and AI Overviews in Search.
Some, known as “super raters”, held advanced degrees and were paid up to $32 (Sh4,134) an hour, while others doing the same tasks earned nearly a third less.
The layoffs were rolled out in at least two rounds last month.
Contractors described receiving abrupt emails announcing the end of their assignments, with little warning and vague references to a “project ramp-down”.
Worry about AI replacing humans
For many, the loss of work underscored a deeper worry: that the very AI they were helping to refine is being trained to replace them. Beyond job insecurity, the cuts highlight simmering disputes over pay disparities, lack of benefits, and the right to organise.
Workers say they faced restrictions on internal forums where they raised concerns, and at least two have filed complaints with the US National Labour Relations Board alleging retaliation for pushing back.
Google, for its part, has distanced itself from the employment issues.
The company noted that the contractors are hired by vendors, not Alphabet (owner of Google) directly, and insisted it holds suppliers to a code of conduct.
GlobalLogic has declined to address the specific grievances.
The episode mirrors a broader reckoning across the tech sector. AI giants are increasingly relying on a shadow workforce to annotate data and shape systems that billions of people use, yet those workers often remain invisible, underpaid, and replaceable.
As regulators and unions turn their gaze toward this corner of the AI economy, the layoffs raise an uneasy question: in an industry driven by automation, what becomes of the humans who train the machines?
Top Stories Today
